-Caveat Lector-
Denny's Accused of Discrimination
By ALLISSA ROSSMAN
Associated Press Writer
HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- A Denny's restaurant may have deliberately slipped bacon
and ham into the meals of two Muslims who had requested no-pork dishes, an
investigator with the Montana Human Rights Bureau says.
``The fact that the ingredients for these meals are packaged separately and do
not contain any pork products ... implies that these products were placed in
the food intentionally,'' according to the investigator's report.
Two Muslims, Abdussalam Sipes and Clarence Watson, filed a religious
discrimination complaint with the bureau, seeking an apology and $1 million
each. The investigator's report was made public this week by an Islamic
organization.
If the two sides cannot settle the complaint, it will go before a Human Rights
Bureau hearing officer.
A lawyer for Denny's, which has been dogged by charges of racism for years,
did not return calls. The manager of the Billings restaurant, Richard Graves,
denied the incident was intentional.
Sipes, whose religion forbids the eating of pork, said in an interview
Tuesday, ``My soul was poisoned.'' Watson said he had to purge himself by
vomiting the meal and was unable to read the Koran or pray for 40 days.
The accusations arose from a March lunch at which the men asked that their
meals of eggs and hash browns be prepared in separate skillets to avoid
contamination by pork.
Sipes said he noticed pieces of ham hidden in the food and complained. The
manager offered them another dish, but Sipes said that when he inspected the
grilled chicken dish, he found a strip of bacon buried.
``They're claiming it's a giant coincidence that ham -- not once but twice --
found its way into both of their meals,'' said the men's attorney, Jeff
Ferguson. ``They're saying it was a comedy of errors.''
Denny's, based in Spartanburg, S.C., settled a $46 million discrimination suit
in 1994 filed by black Secret Service agents who complained they were denied
service at a Maryland restaurant.
The restaurant chain recently launched a $2 million anti-racism campaign
consisting of a series of TV commercials. Denny's employees are now also
required to undergo anti-discrimination sensitivity training.
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